Be an educated parent. Know who your teens are chatting with.
As the Internet and social networking expands there are always new concerns. Last year Chat-Roulette made the headlines across the nation, including Florida.
With summer almost here, many teens will have more time online and more time for hanging out. Know who they are chatting with and always be in the know when they are actually meeting someone in person.
More than 30% of new couples meet online. Online dating has become the second most popular way to meet people behind friends. That’s almost 1 out of every 3 couples met online. This has increased dramatically in the last few years. Dating websites are everywhere. Homosexual couples are twice as likely to meet online at a whopping 61 %. Chat roulette is the latest craze in meeting people online.
Check out 10 things you didn’t know about chat roulette.
- What is Chat Roulette? Chat roulette is an online site where you meet and chat with people through web cams. If you don’t like who you are matched up with you can click on next and like roulette the people spin and you randomly get another person to chat with.
- Where did Chat Roulette originate? As funny as it sounds it was invented in Russia just like Russian roulette.
- Can anyone use a Chat Roulette site? No, many of the sites are limited to adults only because sometimes people show more than just their faces on the video chats. There can be nudity or crude behavior.
- What can you do if you want a more wholesome chat roulette? There are sites that specialize in a more family friendly chat roulette. There are also ones that are made for a younger audience on the “teen only” sites.
- Who invented Chat Roulette? Andrey Turnovskiy, a 17-year-old boy, in Moscow, invented it. He wrote the first version in about 48 hours straight. He has made many revisions since the first version.
- Is Chat Roulette very popular? There can be approximately 35,000 users chatting in any particular day.
- Does it cost anything to do Chat Roulette? No, if you own a web cam, a computer and have Internet service you are set to go.
- Can I be anonymous on Chat Roulette? Well, yes and no. You can wear a mask or something to hide your face, but it is possible to record the chat sessions and post them to Facebook or other sites. They also keep track of IP addresses so if you do something wrong they can block you from the site.
- What was the very first Chat Roulette called? It was actually just called chatroulette. There are many others that have tried to duplicate the popularity of this site, but so none have accomplished it.
- Can I choose who I talk to? At the beginning you had absolutely no choice. You could end up chatting with a man or a woman, someone in another country or someone that doesn’t even speak the same language. Now, there are certain choices you can make like choosing what language you want.
Sue Scheff - Author and Parent Advocate 